9763. 'And for the gate of the court there shall be a screen' means introduction into that heaven, and a guard that prohibits entry into it except by those who have been prepared. This is clear from the meaning of 'the gate' as communication with and introduction into, dealt with in 8989; from the meaning of 'the court' as the lowest heaven, dealt with in 9741; and from the meaning of 'a screen' as a guard that prohibits entry; for the screen served to guard the gate. The reason why it is a guard prohibiting entry except by those who have been prepared is that no one is introduced into heaven unless he has been prepared. The situation is that people who pass from the world into the next life, which happens immediately after death, bring with them worldly and earthly interests that are not in accord with the spiritual and heavenly things that angels are interested in. Therefore those who are to be raised to heaven first undergo preparation, which is carried out through the separation of the worldly and earthly interests which the person has brought with him. For if he were raised to heaven before he had undergone preparation he could not possibly remain in the communities there, since he has a taste for and loves things too crude to come up to the level of angelic purity. When people have been prepared however they are raised by the Lord and introduced into heaven, and are then sent into those angelic communities with which they are in tune so far as truths and forms of the good of faith and love are concerned. All this shows what should be understood by a guard that prohibits entry into heaven except by those who have been prepared.